Via the Baltimore Sun, Ayanbadejo said Monday night on Twitter that he understands Birk’s position. “I don’t think he’s homophobic,” Ayanbadejo wrote in response to a fan who accused Birk of being anti-gay. “Matt Birk is an amazing father, teammate, man! Even if he & I disagree on marriage equality we agree on 95% of other issues.”

Ayanbadejo added that he hopes to have a more detailed discussion with Birk on the topic at some point in the future. “Of course I disagree with his stance, but I’m not gonna tell someone how to raise their kids,” Ayanbadejo said. “He wants the world to be a better place for his kids. . . . I think just from where we’re heading, his kids will grow up to have a different opinion from him. I’ll just leave it at that.”

Given the reaction to Monday’s item regarding Birk’s comments, we’ve got a feeling that plenty of you won’t leave it at that. Chime in below.

“If people that are against gay marriage just said, ‘I’m against gay marriage because thinking about two men having butt sex or two women having scissor sex kills my boner, dries up my vagina, I can’t have sex, it ruins my life. That’s why I’m against it,’ That would be a valid argument! We’d have to actually debate you on that!”

“But these lunatics always go, ‘It says in the Bible…’ Oh, OK, stop, hang on. I’m glad you like a book. Just because you like something in a book doesn’t mean you can have the thing you like in the book happen in real life. That’s what crazy people want!”

“I can’t go to the White House with a bunch of Green Lantern comics and go, ‘I want a Green Lantern ring! I saw it in a book I like. Make the thing in the book I like be here now!’ I would be justifiably tased if I did that.”

You have it exactly right. Civilly agree to disagree and not let this small thing interfere with anything else. 95% of everything else they agree on, so they focus on the commonalities, not the differences.

People world wide can and should do the same thing on everything from race to religion. You take the average middle class Black man and the average middle class White man and aside from the color you have much of the same man. Similar beliefs, similar wants for their kids and family, neighborhood. Whereas you take the same middle class guy and compare him to the lower, or upper class man of his same race and you have an entirely different outlook. Same race, different mind, and mindset.

Concentrate more on what you have in common with your neighbor, and less on the points in which what you differ.

Brendon didn’t say Matt’s position wasn’t bigoted; what he has said is Matt isn’t hateful (I don’t think he is), that Matt is wrong and misguided (true), he’s entitled to raise his kids as he see fit (true) and he very well may be forced to answer to his position in the future if his kids end up pro-gay (or even gay themselves).

Brendon Ayanbadejo and Chris Kluwe are two very intelligent individuals.

It is never a discussion when one side always blames the views of the other side on any kind of phobia or ism. That just screams not wanting to have a rational discussion. At least these two still have the option to discuss.

It is never a discussion when one side always claims their stance is based completely on the infallible word of a made-up entity who they alone speak for and therefore cannot be questioned. That just screams of not wanting to give a rational, reason-based discussion.

I wish people who are against same sex marriage would stop referring to a PC aspect to this issue. This is about equal rights, fair treatment under the law and pursuit of happiness, among others. This issue is NOT about who picks up the check at dinner or who opens the door for whom!! PC has nothing to do with this issue!!

Its really very simple. Alphabit soup grew up in hippy town Santa Cruz, Ca.(as did I) Birk grew up in bible thump, Minn. I equate Birk to the French Canadians, batteling to save their culture. They actually have laws in certin parts of town that all signs must be in French. Brandon thinks every where should like where he grew up. I lived in a small farming town just north of Santa Cruz. Yuppies started moving out there in the 90’s, and then complaining about there being horse crap in the streets. They started to try to make the Coast just like where they moved away from!